Archives for May 2017

In an attempt to become a more focused and disciplined writer, I did what any person would..I turned to Mr. Google for answers. And once again Mr. G did not disappoint.

I found a post about John Steinbeck and the struggles he had with his own feelings of inadequacy, how he actually fought to write every day. He was UNdisciplined writer just like me. (You can find a link to the full post below mine.)

It’s quite fascinating to discover that a Nobel Prize winner for literature (and a writer whose novels are on most mandatory reading lists across the globe) actually felt the exact same way I do most days; I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing, this book will never happen, I can’t write, I will never finish.

To focus on discipline and overcome his self-deprecating thoughts, John began to keep a diary of his musings in the hopes of one day passing it on to his children. In this way, they would understand that under every successful novel and story their father wrote, came hours and hours of heartache and despair that no one ever saw.

Let’s be honest, in a world of instanews and social media where we take thousands of selfies just to capture that “one perfect moment in time,” no one ever allow others to truly see us, flaws, weaknesses and all. I mean really, who wants to read that shit, right? Well, this girl does. And I’m super glad John published his musings of an undisciplined writer. He’s inspiring me to be as imperfect as I can. But mainly, he’s forcing me to write, no matter what kind of shit ends up on the page.

So here starts the journey of my own diary. I hope as I learn to become more disciplined and force myself to write every day, I will in turn reveal my true self, to myself, for perhaps the first time. Although I’m sure I will always fight feelings of inadequacy and struggle with the need to take a nap instead of write, I hope that most hours will be filled with more hope than heartache and more written pages than blank.